Sennheiser MKH 8060 Handling Noise

Joshua Milligan

Joshua Milligan

Well-known member
Hey friends. I recently picked up a Sennheiser MKH 8060 and love it. I've used it for a testimonial on a project I'm working on as well as for VO work on my documentary film that's set to release April 10th. It's a great mic!

Although I boom mics for dialogue, like you should, I also often use a shotgun mic on-camera on my FS7 for capturing sounds during doc shoots. Examples would be gunshots, zippers zipping up a bag, kids clapping in a village, sounds from climbing the Himalaya mountains in Pakistan, etc. These are things that can only be captured on camera while engaging in run-and-gun doc shoots.

I've noticed that my Sennheiser, while a much better mic than my Rode NTG4, picks up a TON of handling noise. I've tested this on both my FS7 with different shock mounts as well as on my A7SII using the Sony K2M. The rejection on the NTG4 also seems to be a bit better which makes me think it might perform better as an on-camera mic when picking up isolated sounds like described above.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on whether I should continue trying different shock mounts and/or just be more careful handling my cameras, or if I should just use the NTG4 as my on-camera mic and use the 8060 for dialogue and boom stuff only. I'd love to know what you think!

Also, please don't give me any of this "don't use on-camera mics" crap. I am not here to get a lecture on something I already know. Like I said, I boom for most things, but on-camera mics are a necessity for what I described above, unless you want to volunteer to go to a hostile area and boom for me everywhere I go making us stick out like a sore thumb. So please, stick to the script!
 
I don't know if you want to invest in any more mics, but the Sanken CS-1e short shotgun mic is often used for on-camera documentary/ENG work because of it's high quality sound, off-axis noise rejection when shooting indoors, and it's low handling noise. You might want to try renting one for the day to see if it's a good fit for you.
 
The Rycote Invision is arguably the best, and even minimizes handling noise of the infamous Oktava 012 to acceptable levels.. of course any mic/shock-mount combo in the hands of the inexperienced boom op is gonna be a problem.
A HPF can help somewhat, unfortunately most are fixed. I prefer a variable HP filter, like on some of the SD mixers and is prior to the preamp.
 
Ya, I'd look into a Rycote Invision camera mount. They have several and various accessories to get the mic away from the camera body. Nice reliable and affordable stuff:
http://mymic.rycote.com/producttypes/invision-video/

Also as Rick says, a HPF could help. IIRC, there isn't any filter included in the base 8060. Maybe consider the optional module Sennheiser sells for the mic? Sorry, I can't recall the model, but IIRC it's designed for issues like you're facing. Here it is. Looks pretty nice. About US$500 street price:
https://en-us.sennheiser.com/filter-module-rf-condenser-microphone-mzf-8000

Cheaper: Try the Wind Filter in your FS7's audio menu. Maybe that would help a bit and not hammer your audio too much.

Sennheiser promotes the 8060 as a great on-camera mic (again, IIRC), so hopefully you can get it to work for you.
 
Joshua Milligan said:
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on whether I should continue trying different shock mounts and/or just be more careful handling my cameras, or if I should just use the NTG4 as my on-camera mic and use the 8060 for dialogue and boom stuff only. I'd love to know what you think!
Click to expand...

You asked....

First thing to try is a Rycote INV-7 shock mount. There's really nothing better, so if that doesn't help you should consider another mic for your on-camera duties. Since you know that on-camera is out-of-position for a mic, you might as well go rugged and cheap like the AT875R, which is more designed for this duty. Arguably, the 8060 is designed exclusively for booming.
 
Using Rycote invision mount is the answer as all the other posters have pointed out. As you mentioned there are situations where on camera mic is fine as the distance of the microphone to the sound source is not a problem. Given a choice, I would prefer to record the effects to a dedicated recorder.

That part of Himalaya where you shot is out of bounds for us. All the best for your documentary. Please share us any links when you release.
 
I recommend a K-Tek KGPSS suspension or Rycote suspension. Both are really good. The K-Tek mount isn't as low profile, but has been my favorite mic suspension for years, go back to my days mounting it on high performance cars when recording them.
 
I have used the K-Tek mounts for years and like them also. Dave would know on this for sure; do the rubber components still come in two densities? I have used the softer versions and they seem to do just fine on various shotguns. This series of mounts come in different lengths to suit short and longer mics.

Grant
 
I too have a similar situation. I use a MKH8060 in a full Rycote Windshield mounted directly onto my F5 for filming birds. I generally have my levels at max for picking up bird calls and the mic picks up everything, it is very sensitive especially in the low end. Even when stationary and with no wind there is still somewhat of a "rumble" in the audio. It easily filters out in post but I would prefer to cut it at the source. The MZF8000 filter module looks perfect but pretty expensive for what it is.

Other than that the mic is absolutely brilliant, it often picks up soft bird calls that I didn't even hear with my own ears.
 
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